This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2002-77272, filed Dec. 6, 2002, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wall-mounted type microwave ovens, and more particularly, to a wall-mounted type microwave oven having a movable filter and a guide duct which are automatically and slidably installed in a hood of the microwave oven.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a wall-mounted type microwave oven is a microwave oven which is mounted to a wall of a kitchen space above a gas range. This type of a microwave oven collaterally vents exhaust gases, smoke, or food odors produced by the gas range into the atmosphere outside of the kitchen space. The wall-mounted microwave oven also performs a cooking operation of food placed therein using high-frequency electromagnetic waves.
A gas range cooks food using heat generated from a combustion of fuel gas. In contrast, a magnetron of the microwave oven generates high-frequency electromagnetic waves to cook food. The microwaves penetrate the food placed in a cooking chamber of the microwave oven so as to repeatedly change the molecular arrangement of moisture laden in the food, thus generating a frictional heat within the food to cook the food.
Similar to the configurations of typical microwave ovens, the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven includes a cabinet which is partitioned into the cooking chamber and a machine room. However, unlike the typical microwave ovens, the wall-mounted type microwave oven further includes an exhaust path which is defined in the cabinet. The exhaust path guides exhaust gases or food odors produced from food being cooked by the gas range, so as to discharge the exhaust gases or food odors into the atmosphere outside of the kitchen space. Furthermore, an exhaust fan is installed at an upper position of a rear portion of the cabinet, and functions to suck and vent the exhaust gases or food odors guided along the exhaust path.
A hood is mounted to a bottom of the cabinet so as to guide the exhaust gases or food odors into the exhaust path. The hood includes an air inlet port which communicates with the exhaust path.
However, the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven, which is constructed as described above, does not effectively suck and discharge the exhaust gases, smoke, or food odors produced by the gas range, which is positioned below the microwave oven. That is, since the wall-mounted type microwave oven extends forward from the wall of the kitchen space relatively less than the gas range, the wall-mounted type microwave oven does not sufficiently cover and effectively suck the exhaust gases, smoke, or food odors produced by the gas range. Thus, a portion of the exhaust gases or food odors is not discharged into the atmosphere outside the kitchen space through the wall-mounted type microwave oven. Rather, that portion remains in the kitchen space and contaminates indoor air of the kitchen space, thus leading to an unpleasant environment of the kitchen space.
Furthermore, a filter is provided on the air inlet port of the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven to remove impurities from the exhaust gases or ambient air. However, the filter of the conventional wall-mounted type microwave oven has an area corresponding to that of the air inlet port, which is relatively small compared to the microwave oven. Accordingly, the filter does not sufficiently remove the impurities from the exhaust gases or food odors provided in the kitchen space.
Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a wall-mounted type microwave oven which is designed to effectively suck and vent exhaust gases or food odors produced by an oven range which is positioned below the microwave oven.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a wall-mounted type microwave oven which is designed to effectively remove impurities from exhaust gases or food odors produced by an oven range.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a wall-mounted type microwave oven comprising a heating unit to cook food, a cabinet which defines an external appearance of the microwave oven, a hood which is mounted to a bottom of the cabinet and includes at least one air inlet port to suck exhaust gas external to the microwave oven into the cabinet, a guide duct which is movably arranged inside the hood at a position above the air inlet port and includes a movable filter that is set in the guide duct so as to be spaced apart from an inner space of the guide duct by a predetermined interval, and an actuating unit which moves the guide duct forward or rearward, wherein the movable filter filters the exhaust gas passing therethrough and the guide duct guides the filtered exhaust gas into the cabinet in response to the guide duct being moved forward by the actuating unit.
The hood may include slide grooves which are provided at sidewalls of the hood, and the guide duct may be slidably fitted at both side ends thereof into the slide grooves so as to move, with the movable filter, along the slide grooves of the hood.
The microwave oven may further comprise a fixed filter which is mounted to the air inlet port and removes impurities from the exhaust gas passing through the air inlet port.
The actuating unit may include a drive motor which is mounted on the hood, a rotary member which is connected, at an end thereof, to a rotating shaft of the drive motor, and rotated by the drive motor to move the guide duct forward, and at least one elastic member which is connected, at a first end thereof, to the hood, while being connected, at a second end thereof, to the guide duct, and applies an elastic force to the guide duct so as to normally move the guide duct rearward.
The rotary member may include an actuating cam which is connected, at an end thereof, to the rotating shaft of the drive motor, and has a curved shape of a predetermined curvature at the other end thereof.
In contrast, the rotary member may include an actuating bar having a predetermined length which is connected, at a first end thereof, to the rotating shaft of the drive motor, and a roller which is connected to a second end of the actuating bar. In this case, the guide duct is moved forward in response to the roller being in contact with a side of the guide duct and revolving on an axis thereof.
The microwave oven may further comprise at least one stopper which is mounted on the hood and stops the guide duct at a predetermined position where the guide duct is moved rearward by the elastic member.
The elastic member may include two coil springs.
The microwave oven may further comprise first and second switches which are mounted on the hood at respective positions corresponding to top and bottom dead centers of the rotary member.
Where the rotary member includes the actuating cam, the microwave oven may further comprise a first micro switch which is mounted on the hood and controls the drive motor to stop a rearward movement of the guide duct, and a second micro switch which is mounted on the hood, positioned behind the drive motor, and controls the drive motor to stop a forward movement of the guide duct. In this case, the drive motor may be a one-way synchronizing motor.
Where the rotary member includes the actuating bar, the microwave oven may further comprise a first micro switch which is mounted on the hood, positioned behind the drive motor, and controls the drive motor to stop a rearward movement of the guide duct, and a second micro switch which is mounted on the hood, positioned in front of the drive motor, and controls the drive motor to stop a forward movement of the guide duct. In this case, the drive motor may be a two-way synchronizing motor.
On the other hand, where the rotary member includes the actuating bar, the microwave oven may further comprise a first micro switch which is mounted on the hood, positioned adjacent to a side of the drive motor, and controls the drive motor to stop a rearward movement of the guide duct, and a second micro switch which is mounted on the hood, positioned in front of the drive motor, and controls the drive motor to stop a forward movement of the guide duct. In this case, the drive motor may be a one-way synchronizing motor.